By Emelie Rutherford
Former Harvard University professor Ashton Carter is due to start work today as the Pentagon’s acquisition czar, after lawmakers dropped their opposition last week upon receiving assurances on how the Pentagon wants to conduct the Air Force tanker competition.
Carter will assume the under secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics (AT&L) post from John Young, a Bush administration holdover. A Pentagon spokesman said last Friday Carter will be sworn in this morning.
“Dr. Carter is the right man to lead AT&L at this time and Secretary Gates looks forward to working closely with him to rebalance the Pentagon’s budget and reform the department’s acquisition process,” spokesman Geoff Morrell said last Friday
The Senate approved Carter’s confirmation via a voice vote last Thursday night, shortly after Alabama Republican Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions lifted holds they placed on the vote. The senators met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates the same evening. They said Gates assured them a forthcoming aerial-refueling tanker competition will be conducted in an open manner based on several factors, and not only on the lowest bid.
Despite the brief holds raised by the senators, Carter’s confirmation went smoothly compared to his previous nomination 16 years ago for a job in the Clinton Pentagon. In that instance, Carter’s nomination stalled for months over allegations he exceeded his authority as a Pentagon consultant while awaiting confirmation (Defense Daily, March 4).
Shelby and Sessions, backers of the Northrop Grumman–European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) team’s tanker proposal, wanted an assurances the Pentagon will base the contest on a “best value” assessment that weighs attributes beyond price. Though Northrop-EADS had a cheaper bid last year in a previous contest, the team’s supporters are concerned competitor Boeing [BA] could propose a lower cost; that’s because as a result of Boeing’s successful protest of Northrop-EADS’ since-canceled February 2008 contract, Boeing has seen its competitor’s pricing data.
“Secretary Gates has always been committed to a fair and transparent competition for a replacement air tanker and that is exactly what he will insist on when he relaunches the bidding later this year,” Morrell said, adding Gates “is pleased that Senators Shelby and Sessions did the right thing and lifted the hold they had on Dr. Carter’s nomination.”
Shelby said in a statement that Gates “echoed” his belief that the tanker acquisition process be fair, open, and transparent.
“I have…decided to lift my hold on the nomination of Dr. Carter but will continue to closely monitor the process to see that Secretary Gates’ assurances are carried out,” said Shelby, who also met last week with Carter.
Sessions similarly said he looks forward to “working closely” with Carter. The often-delayed tanker contest, he said, “has gone on far too long, and it’s imperative that we get these refueling tankers to the war fighter as soon as possible.”
It is not clear if Gates will succeed in his plan to solicit bids this summer for a new winner-take-all tanker contest. Lawmakers including House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) last week continued to advocate for compelling the Pentagon to award tanker contracts to both competitors, to avoid further bid protests and delays; Gates vehemently opposes such a dual buy, which he has said the Pentagon cannot afford.
President Obama nominated Carter on Feb. 23.
A physicist, Carter has been the chair of the International and Global Affairs faculty at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has spent his career in academia and government, and has an extensive arms-control and strategic-posture background. He served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy in the Clinton administration, from 1993 to 1996.